


orange to blue...

by stardazed_daydreams



Series: benrey care gordon? real shit? [2]
Category: HLVRAI - Fandom, Half Life VR But The AI Is Self-Aware
Genre: Bickering, Black Mesa Sweet Voice, Bullying, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Fluff, Gordon Has An Anxiety Disorder, Half-Life VR But the AI is Self-Aware, Love Confessions, M/M, Nonbinary Benrey (Half-Life), Tooth-Rotting Fluff, as a treat, bc benrey cant handle his emotions dfjkhlgfd, i can have a little projection, one could argue...., they/himrey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:28:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25451689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stardazed_daydreams/pseuds/stardazed_daydreams
Summary: After Benrey helped him through a panic attack, Gordon realizes some feelings he's been suppressing about everyone's favorite security guard.
Relationships: Background Bubby/Dr. Coomer (Half-Life), Benrey & Tommy Coolatta, Benrey/Gordon Freeman, Tommy Coolatta & Gordon Freeman
Series: benrey care gordon? real shit? [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1843588
Comments: 16
Kudos: 314





	orange to blue...

**Author's Note:**

> *presents this to you on a silver platter* your fluff, sir
> 
> edit: [this fic is also on tumblr!](https://gamer-feetman-official.tumblr.com/post/624384651273830400/orange-to-blue)

Gordon wakes up the next morning and pushes himself to an upright position, hissing when all his bones groan in protest. He rolls his shoulders and neck, grumbling under his breath, and twists. His spine snap-crackle-pops, and he breathes a sigh of relief. He unfolds his legs, stretching them as far as they’ll go, and Gordon’s entire body is quick to remind him that he is Too Old For This Bullshit, Thank You Very Much. 

He yawns, rubbing his eyes, and-

Oh.

Benrey’s still right there, face slightly flushed as he looks anywhere but at Gordon with all the attitude of someone caught staring. “look who’s finally fucking awake,” they blurt. “lil uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh sleeping beauty lookin’ ass, thought i was gonna have ‘ta kiss you awake or some gay shit like that. gayden freeman.” he stands up and noclips halfway across the room before Gordon can respond, leaving him with a pounding headache.

“Why do I even fucking  _ try _ ,” Gordon says, rubbing his temples and pushing himself to his feet. “Hey, do any of you have, like, soda? Or water?” he adds hopefully, looking around at the room.

“No I’m- I’m sorry Mr. Freeman we- we drank it all,” Tommy says, and Gordon sighs.

“No, you’re right, that was hoping for too much,” he mutters. Jesus, he hopes the painkillers in his suit will last. He does one last little stretch before turning his gaze to the whole team. “C’mon boys, let’s hit the road,” he says, picking up his crowbar.

* * *

Despite Gordon telling himself that nothing would change, everything has. Annoyingly, Benrey has become something of a security blanket to Gordon (no pun intended). 

They still don’t get along- one positive interaction alone can’t change the fact that Gordon is  _ pretty goddamn sure this is all Benrey’s fault anyway- _ but the constant bickering seems to be almost  _ part _ of the comfort Benrey brings. Like, out of everything that’s going on, at least one thing is constant: Benrey bugging the shit out of him. 

“Do  _ not _ touch that,” Gordon snaps.

“nyehhhhh nyehhhhh nyehhhhh,” Benrey says, picking up the bomb in question and giving it a shake. He seems almost surprised when it explodes, launching them so far that his back collides with the wall on the other side of the room, helmet rattling almost comically as they slide to a seated position. “ow,” he mumbles. 

Anger and worry mixes together, and Gordon sees red. “What the FUCK did I tell you?” He starts, but Benrey waves him off. 

“im fine bro calm your tits,” he says. 

“I-” Gordon cuts himself off to gesture wildly, miming throttling the air in front of him. 

Benrey laughs at him, standing back up and brushing invisible dust from the front of his vest, and runs ahead and out of sight despite  _ repeatedly being told not to _ . 

Gordon’s brain feels like it’s about to explode. “Holy fuck, my brain is going to  _ explode _ ,” he says.

“It-it’s okay, Mr. Freeman, Benrey can- Benrey can handle themself!” Tommy says reassuringly, gun out. 

“I’m not  _ worried _ about him, I-” Gordon cuts himself off with a blink.  _ Is _ he worried about Benrey? The thought is so distracting that Gordon immediately reaches for something else to talk about, blustering. “The- put your gun away, Tommy, we’ve talked about this.” 

Tommy frowns, but puts it away with little complaint. “Do- are you- are you alright, Mr. Freeman? Do you want to- to talk about it?” 

Gordon pauses, glancing down the hallway to make sure Benrey’s still out of earshot. “You can translate Sweet Voice, right?” He asks slowly.

“Right- of course I can, Mister- Mr. Freeman!” Tommy says, smiling brightly. “What did- what colors did you want to translate?” 

“Um- Orange to blue?” Gordon says, trying (and failing) not to blush furiously, avoiding Tommy’s gaze. 

“Oh! Orange to blue means ‘I’m here to protect you’!” Tommy recites. “Are you- you sue you’re alright, Mr. Freeman?” 

Oh, wow. Gordon’s even redder than before, but he manages to stutter out an “I’m-fine-thanks-bye” before rushing ahead to the front of the group, biting down on his bottom lip. He tucks a loose strand behind his ear and takes a deep breath, steadying himself, just in time to catch up with Benrey, who’s leaning precariously on a wobby-looking railing. “Oh my  _ God _ get away from there!” Gordon snaps, all thoughts of Sweet Voice flying out as the railing creaks precariously.

Benrey cackles at him, and the translation is soon forgotten. 

* * *

It’s dark.

The lights in this room have been switched off, and Gordon can hear the telltale sound of Coomer snoring to his left as he lays on the ground, staring up at the ceiling with his hands folded over his chest like a corpse. Nothing about the position is comfortable- his head is resting on concrete and the metal confines of his HEV suit are practically impossible to get off, so he hasn’t bothered- and so he lies awake, hours after they called it quits for the night. He looks to his left, and sees the faint outlines of Coomer and Bubby tangled together on the floor, sleeping soundly. Just past them is Tommy, he knows, but it’s too dark for him to see anything. 

He exhales through his nose, louder than he meant to, and winces a little. 

Nobody stirs. 

He sighs and sits up, rubbing his eyes tiredly. If his relentless thoughts and aching back are going to keep him awake, he might as well stop laying around. 

He scans the room again and finds a shadowed figure he assumes to be Benrey also sitting up, further apart from the group than Gordon is and facing the door. Quietly, Gordon pushes himself to his feet and walks over to them, sitting by their side instead. 

“Hey,” Gordon says. “Don’t you ever sleep?” 

“nah,” he says, shrugging. “im not human.” 

Gordon sighs again, scrubbing his face with his hands. “Right.” They sit in comfortable silence for a few moments. 

“So-” 

“why are-” 

Gordon blinks. “You first.” 

Benrey rolls their eyes. “why are you awake?” 

Gordon avoids his gaze, picking imaginary dirt off the ground and flicking it. “Thinking,” he says honestly, hoping his blush isn’t too obvious in the dark.

“ugggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh why are you being like that,” benrey complains. “thinking about  _ what _ .”

Wow, this ground is really interesting all of the sudden. Gordon blushes even harder. “Um. I, uh, asked Tommy about the Sweet Voice.” 

Benrey stops breathing. “... bro uncool,” they say after a long moment, “not really uhhhh, a pro gamer move there bro, that’s confidential- private information, i cant believe you would do that,” he babbles. 

“Benrey,” Gordon interrupts his steam of pure consciousness to put a hand on their thigh. “I…” He turns to face them, their gaze darts down to his mouth, and before he knows it, they’re- 

They’re kissing. 

Uh… wow. Gordon’s hands flail for a moment before coming up to cup Benrey’s face, pulling them closer. They run their tongue along Gordon’s bottom lip, so he opens it, letting their tongues slide together. Benrey gasps a little, and something electric zings down Gordon’s spine. It’s overwhelming, so he pulls away, gasping a little for breath. 

“Uh… wow,” Gordon says aloud, and Benrey laughs at him, gripping him by the shoulders and pulling him back in for another searing kiss. This time, when Benrey makes another shivery almost-moan, a stream of Sweet Voice spills into Gordon’s mouth, and he pulls back to touch his lips, pink and gray swirling together on his fingers. It tastes like cotton candy, and he hums.

“rose to dove means i think im in love,” benrey mumbles against his lips, and Gordon squeezes them tight, determined to never let go.

**Author's Note:**

> ha ha, don't think about benrey still being the final boss, you'll cry.
> 
> Please leave a kudos/comment if you enjoyed!! Also if you guys have any ideas for things you want me to write feel free to leave them here or bother me on [tumblr!](https://gamer-feetman-official.tumblr.com/)


End file.
